1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of producing a catalyst for the decomposition of hydrazine used in a gas turbine or a thruster for an attitude control of an artificial satellite.
2. Disclosure of the Related Art
As the conventional production of the catalyst for the decomposition of hydrazine, there is a method wherein alumina obtained by the usual manner (thermal decomposition or the like) is used as an inorganic carrier and iridium (Ir) as a catalyst is dissolved in a solvent such as water or the like and substantially uniformly impregnated into the carrier in an amount of 30-40% When hydrazine (N.sub.2 H.sub.4) is contacted with the thus obtained iridium, it is decomposed according to the following reactions to produce a driving force of a rocket: EQU N.sub.2 H.sub.4 .fwdarw.2N.sub.2 +2H.sub.2
or EQU 3N.sub.2 H.sub.4 .fwdarw.4NH.sub.3 +H.sub.2 EQU 2NH.sub.3 .fwdarw.N.sub.2 +3H.sub.2
In the catalyst for the decomposition of hydrazine obtained by such a conventional method, however, an amount of iridium contributing to a catalytic reaction is hardly existent in the surface of the catalyst using the solvent such as water or the like, so that the activity is not so high, and particularly there is a problem that the catalytic activity is substantially lost when the activity of the catalyst as a whole falls down due to the sintering of iridium after the thermal endurance at a high temperature.